Monday 4^th January

I strongly support the great British respect for free speech and the right to protest – after all, that's one of the things our soldiers have fought and died for in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is essential that Anjem Choudary should be allowed to express his views – even if they seem to me and, I think, to most people, including much of the moderate Muslim community, almost as eccentric and obnoxious as those of Nick Griffin and the BNP at the opposite end of the spectrum. He must be allowed to speak if he wants to.

But he must not be allowed to do so in Wootton Bassett. Our repatriation ceremonies – and I have attended perhaps two thirds of them – are absolutely apolitical. No comment is made about the war, either in favour or against. We simply turn out in all weathers, and often twice a week, to pay our respects to soldiers who have fallen in service of Queen and country. That's why we are so opposed to the proposed Islam4UK's march – it would be hijacking our quiet, simple ceremonies for political purposes.

I have always advised David Cameron, for example, against coming, as his presence might be thought to be "political". A number of MPs have attended alongside me on various occasions, but always incognito – in the crowds beside the mayor and Royal British Legion. The prime minister, I fear, might be almost as unwelcome as Mr Choudary.

The importance and strength of what the people of Wootton Bassett do is that they stand on behalf of the nation and of so many people around the world in silent tribute to the heroism of the fallen. The hearses stop for a moment as the old bell of St Bartholomew's tolls, the families say their personal farewells, and the entourage glides on to Oxford. Its beauty and its strength lie in its non-political simplicity.

Anjem Choudary and his supporters can say whatever they want on the media – and perhaps the threat of the march alone has achieved that through wall-to-wall media coverage without the march itself having to take place. They can have their protests wherever they want to, and I strongly recommend Parliament Square to them. But they must not be allowed to sully the purity of the quietly respectful ceremonies of the good people of Wootton Bassett.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jan/04/wootton-bassett-anjem-choudary

James Gray MP on Wootton Bassett repatriations